My Lips, Your Lips
by WeBuiltThePyramids
Summary: "I was obnoxious. And it wasn't the proper time. I do want to say, though," he said when she opened her mouth to respond, "that I wasn't just being me." Post "Wave Goodbye."


**So I had this written after the sneak peek and when the episode was finished I was just supposed to edit to fit the canon, but I got struck down with food poisoning and was sick until after 3am, then I had to get up at six to go to the racetrack for a few hours before driving four hundred miles so basically this is late but hey, it's not like fanfic writers are paid and have deadlines.**

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"Well," Paige said, boxing up the deck of cards, "at least we're still in sync in that we both changed our answer to try and match the other. Something to be said for that, right?"

"That is an excellent point," Walter agreed. "And they said we can have our desks back once Happy is sufficiently with child, so it's basically what we were going to offer in the first place."

"Exactly. Still in sync, still the desired result, so we're pretty awesome," she said, coming over and sliding her arms around his neck, "even if we can't agree on what our first kiss was."

"I do want to apologize for that," he said, shifting uncomfortably. "I was obnoxious. And it wasn't the proper time. I do want to say, though," he said when she opened her mouth to respond, "that I wasn't just being me."

She cocked her head. "I don't follow."

"I _mean_ it wasn't just my need to be right, or my brain getting stuck and unable to get off of going by chronological order." He rubbed his thumb absentmindedly against her back and released her, taking a step back and looking down and away. "I've just attached a lot of meaning to that kiss.

"The one that happened here?"

He nodded, looking back at her. Her eyes were soft, as was her posture. It eased his nerves – slightly. "Paige, I was in love with you then. I didn't realize that at the time. I don't think I really knew until…" he trailed off, deciding not to go there. He cleared his throat. "Until later. But that kiss did something to me. I'd been thinking about kissing you for most of that day. And when it happened…through everything that's happened with us since then, good and bad, that's always been our first kiss. And finding out that you don't share that memory with me, it was a little surprising, and it kinda hurt even though your thoughts aren't malicious."

"Walter, I very much remember that kiss."

" _No_." He shouldn't get frustrated; it wasn't her job to understand him all the time. "I know you remember it. I just mean whenever you think back on our first kiss, and whenever I think back on our first kiss…it wasn't the same kiss. We don't have that in common. And that's something really special we don't have in common. I guess I'd always figured it was just as special to you, because it was our first kiss, and I knew it was wrong to be angry at you for that hurt, so I guess I changed it into something else. B – being upset at you because of my chronology argument. It was a cop out because I didn't know how to handle how naïve I guess I had been."

She smiled, reaching up and putting a hand on the side of his neck. "You weren't naïve, Love," she said gently, using their favorite term of endearment. "We never talked about that kiss, I know, but it was amazing for me, too. I thought about it every time I…" She hesitated too, like he had earlier, and then it was her turn to clear her throat and forge on. "Every kiss since that one was compared to it. And nothing lit me up like it did, not until you kissed me again at Kovelsky's. Every other kiss felt wrong because when you've had the best, the rest just doesn't cut it."

"I – " Walter started, cutting off when she lifted a finger. "Sorry."

"I let you talk," she said. "Please let me."

"You're right. I'm sorry."

Paige stepped closer to him. "Walter, you were an idiot after that kiss. And so was I. And if that's our first kiss, we messed up. At least that's what I was thinking," she added after a moment, looking down at his chest. Walter wished she would look at him. "But if our first kiss was in the storage closet at Kovelsky's," she said quietly, "then you told me you loved me, I said it back, we kissed, and that was it. A lot was wrong after we kissed in the garage. But nothing's been wrong since Kovelsky's." She looked up at him. "And when I think of our love story, I like to think of us declaring our love and not looking back. It makes it seem as magical as it all feels, if that makes sense."

"I don't believe in magic, but suppose I understand," Walter said. "But I can't pretend I didn't love you before that night at the restaurant. I had been loving you for a long time. I did tell you that," he added quickly, his scientifically oriented brain wanting to back up his statement with evidence.

"You did." She slid her hands up to the sides of his face. "I think I loved you that night in the garage, too," she whispered, almost making him go weak because she'd never told him that before. "You're right, I know you're right. That's where our first kiss was, no matter what happened after."

"It doesn't matter," Walter said, reaching up to stroke her hair. "Like I said earlier. At the end of the day I don't care when or where it happened. What's important is it happened, and we're here."

"You know, though," she said, a slightly mischievous looking smile on her face, "that card never asked where we were located when we first kissed. It just asked _where_ we first kissed." She raised her eyebrows in question. "You following me?"

He felt a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I think so."

"So whenever anyone asks us where our first kiss was, let's just say – "

" – _on the lips_ ," they said in unison.


End file.
